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Volume 16 issue 2 October 2015

ANCIENT EGYPT explores the WORLD WIDE WEB ...

THE LATER KINGS OF THE FIFTH DYNASTY

This month NETFISHING continues its look at the history of Egypt by seeing what
the World Wide Web has to say about the later kings of the Fifth Dynasty.

In the last edition we looked at the reigns of some of the Fifth Dynasty kings, from Sahura to Raneferef, and so this time we continue our study of the kings of the Fifth Dynasty, an overview of which can be found at:

NYUSERRA (Niuserre) like his predecessor, Ranereref (Neferfre), may have been a son of Neferirikara although this remains uncertain. Likewise Nyuserra appears to have reigned for at least thirty years, although Manetho credits him with a reign of forty-four years. One of his daughters, a princess Khamerenebty, married the vizier, Ptahshepses, who has a very large and impressive tomb at Abusir. This is an unusual tomb, in that it contains two special rooms for the burial of (solar) boats; thus the vizier usurped a prerogative previously reserved for royalty. The king’s sun-temple, Joy of the heart of Ra built at Abu Gurab, is the best preserved of all the Fifth Dynasty sun-temples and features the remains of a huge sun-obelisk and an alabaster altar upon which offerings were made to the sun-god Ra. Refer:

MENKAUHOR, who reigned for some eight or nine years only, was the last king of the Fifth Dynasty known to have built a solar temple, although its location remains unknown. The king’s pyramid likewise remains unidentified although it is now believed that the ‘Headless Pyramid’ at Saqqara may be the remains of Menkauhor’s final burial place. Refer:

DEJDKARA ISESI (Djedkare Isesi) is assigned a reign of twenty-eight years by the Turin Canon although this may well be an error as Manetho ascribes him a reign of forty-four years, so that a reign of thirty-eight year appears probable. Djedkara is known to have sent expeditions to Byblos and Punt. Djedkara’s expedition to Punt is referred to in a famous letter written by the young king Pepy II to the Nobleman Harkuf, in the Sixth Dynasty, asking Harkuf to bring him back “a dancing dwarf ” from Punt as king Isesi (Djedkara) had done. Harkuf preserved this amusing letter on the walls of his tomb (A8) at Aswan. Djedkara constructed his pyramid, called Beautiful is Djedkara, at South Saqqara. Refer:

The last king of the Fifth Dynasty, king Unas, and the advent of the Pyramid Texts, will be the subjects of Netfishing in the next issue.

Victor Blunden

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